


when and where to not lie

by PoseidonsUnderpants



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Episode: s02e03 Family of Rogues, Multi, Your friends are judging you, barry why are you so obvious, i know nothing about police procedure, just go with it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-19
Updated: 2016-03-25
Packaged: 2018-05-21 16:43:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6058597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PoseidonsUnderpants/pseuds/PoseidonsUnderpants
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Barry Allen gets arrested. He's pretty sure it's Snart's fault.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1: Why Me?

**Author's Note:**

> Because wouldn't it be suspicious for a CSI to meet up with a criminal?  
> I have no schedule for updates.  
> Please feel free to comment with any criticisms.  
> Thanks for reading! :)

“Captain Singh?”

David looked up and saw an uncomfortable-looking officer standing at the door, a file in her hand.

“What is it, Officer Jacobs?” He mentally prepared himself for whatever new, crazy, super-human had robbed a bank this week.

“It’s… I had some free time, so I was following up a lead on Snart after those diamonds were stolen a few days ago…” She started.

“That’s great, Officer. But Detective West leads cases that involve Snart,” David really didn’t have enough time for another case today.

“I know, Sir. But, considering the circumstances, I thought it would be best to take this straight to you,” Jacobs explained.

Both intrigued and resigned, David waved her in. She stepped inside his office quickly and closed the door behind her. He could tell this wasn’t going to be good.

“I managed to track him through CCTV, trying to see where he’d been, who he’d talked to, why he’d work with his father of all people. I got these from Saints & Sinners,” she handed over the folder, looking pained.

He opened the folder, not really sure what he was about to see, and… Was it normal to hear a buzzing in your ears? Or for your vision to go blotchy? His hands clenched, tearing at the picture’s edge, the picture of Snart sitting at a both with… with…

“I talked to the waitress; she said that she overheard Allen offering Snart help with something. If you, um,” Jacobs took the picture from his hands, revealing underneath another; this time being of  Lewis and Leonard Snart and _Barry Allen, CSI_ wearing blue dungarees, walking into the building that got robbed. He needed a drink.

“And, er, Allen visited Snart in Iron Heights after he was arrested,” Jacobs added, not being as helpful as she probably thought she was being.

“Thank you, Officer Jacobs. You did the right thing, bringing this to me first. It think it’d be best if you kept quiet about this,” he was struggling to get his words out—he was breathing to fast. His vision had cleared, but he could swear it was now tainted red.

“Of course, Captain. I was discrete,” Jacobs looked like she wanted to pat his shoulder or something, but her common sense stopped her. He _really_ couldn’t be held responsible for anything he did right now.

“You’re dismissed,” he snapped. She left almost as fast as The Flash could have.

He placed the photo down and ran his fingers through his hair, then tugged hard at it. This was … a FUBAR situation. Detective West was a close friend of his, but he knew he couldn’t let that affect his objectivity this time; all those time Allen had been late, or disrespectful, he could put aside—the kid was good at his job and always got results, in the end. But _this?_ Being not only an accessory to a crime, but maybe even committing one? This was out of his hands.

It’s just… he couldn’t wrap his head around it. Allen had a good heart, he could tell. There must have been a reason behind this. A… plausible explanation for why he would work with a murderer.

David groaned and hit his head against his desk. Why did these things always happen to him?

*

Barry had been having a pretty crap week, even by his standards.

The whole mess with the Snarts had really messed with him. To think that a father could do something like that to his own children… And even then, that someone could kill their own father… It all seemed so unfathomable to him.

The fact that right now his computer was lagging wasn’t helping anything, of course. He really needed to get Felicity to update the WiFi or something.

To fit the mood of his week, Captain Singh walked into his lab just as he was hitting the computer, trying to get it to work. To make matters worse, Singh’s left eye was twitching in the way it usually does when Barry’s done something wrong.

“Uh, hi, Captain Singh. I’m just, um, experiencing some technical difficulties. What can I do for you?” Barry smiled brightly at him, hoping that that would make him less angry—it hadn’t ever worked before, but there’s no harm in trying, right?

“I need you to come with me, Allen,” Singh said, and, wow, he sounded just like Oliver did as The Arrow.

“Sure, Sir. Is there a new crime scene?” Barry asked.

“Not for that, no…” Singh took a deep breath.  “I’m here to arrest you for questioning on suspicion for aiding and taking part in a heist. I’d read you your rights, but I trust you already know them. Please, for all our sakes, come quietly.” Singh grabbed his arm and started leading him to the door.

Barry blinked and tried to pull his arm away, not quite comprehending what was happening.

“What? You can’t be serious. This is—let go of me!” Barry laughed, but it sounded slightly hysterical.

“Allen, don’t make this harder than it has to be. I’m just going to take you to an interrogation room downstairs.” Singh grabbed his forearm again and pushed him to the stairs. Barry, feeling confused and out of control, followed silently, reasoning with himself that this must all be a mistake, that Joe would come down and sort it all out soon, that he had nothing to worry about.

Singh let go of his arm when they got in sight of the rest of the force, but he still walked close to Barry’s side. When they got to the room, Singh handcuffed him to the table, which was new. When he had been questioned after his mother’s murder, he had spent hours in a room just like this, but Joe had been kind and patient with him the whole time. Somehow, he doubted Captain Singh would be the same.

“Tell me, Allen, are you familiar with Leonard Snart?” Singh started, and of course it had to be _Snart_ that got him into this mess, inadvertently or not.

Barry pursed his lips, unsure on how to respond. He found it difficult to remember the different times they had met as Captain Cold and The Flash or as Barry Allen and Leonard Snart.

“I was the CSI on the case last year, when he broke into that moving truck and stole that diamond thing from the museum,” he said. He’d done a lot more than that, but Singh didn’t need to know that.

“Have you seen him since then?” Singh asked, glaring slightly.

Barry shook his head, because he had no good reason to have met with a criminal.

This obviously was the wrong answer, judging by Singh’s expression.

“ _Really,_ Allen?” Singh sneered. “Then how do you explain these?”

Singh pulled out a piece of paper and placed it in front of him. Looking down at it, he saw it was actually a photo, a photo of him and Snart at Saints & Sinners, dated to earlier this week.

_Shit._

“I, um,” he cleared his voice, and found that he couldn’t look Singh in the eyes, “I would like to talk to my lawyer, please.”

Why did these things always happen to him?


	2. Chapter 2: Confused Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> People find out and react.

Felicity Smoak was currently in the progress of emailing a board member of Palmer Technologies, watching over Oliver on CCTV cameras as he raced on his motorbike after a crime lord, calling out directions for Laurel and Thea as they tracked down a drugs dealer and hacking A.R.G.U.S’ files for information on a possible murder suspect.

Just a normal Thursday night, right?

Next to her, her phone went off. Glancing at it quickly, she hoped whoever it was could wait. She made a frustrated noise when she saw the name ‘Caitlin’ pop up, but she knew it would be important. She tapped accept, putting the phone on speaker so she could still use both her hands.

“I don’t want to sound rude, Caitlin, but I’m kind of busy right now. Can you call back?” Felicity tried to not sound as stressed as she felt.

_“Sorry, sorry!”_ Caitlin sounded stressed out herself. _“It’s just, Barry’s not answering his phone and he’s, like, a lot later than usual. Cisco tracked him to the police station, but he can’t get into the cameras inside. Joe’s not answering either, and we just want to make sure he’s not in trouble or anything.”_

“Give me one minute,” Felicity said, sliding on her chair’s wheels and tapping rapidly on a fresh computer. She had spent enough time with Barry to know that he always, _always_ answered his phone, no matter how rude it would be. The perils of being a superhero.

_“What’s happening?”_ Oliver asked, the nosy bugger he was.

“I’m in to CCPD’s internal surveillance… He’s not in his lab… or the main area… _ooh,_ there’s Joe, he looks _pissed_ … Where else could he be…?” Felicity paused, blinking at the footage before her of Barry handcuffed in an interrogation room. “Oh God,” she breathed. Did the police know who he was?

She started searching through arrest records, her fingers a frantic blur.

_“What?”_ Both Caitlin and Oliver asked. Laurel made a questioning noise over her comm.

“He’s been arrested for… aha!” She found the right file, and started skimming it. “It says here for aiding and abetting in a… heist?” She scoffed. How did Barry get himself into these situations?

She heard a muffled curse come from Caitlin’s end, probably from Cisco.

“It says he’s been in police custody for about four hours now, he’s requested his lawyer, but she’s on holiday so they’re trying to find a replacement… Can’t he just say that it’s not true?” She asked Caitlin, who was breathing heavily.

_“If he did, he’d be lying,”_ She sounded pained. Felicty was about to object, but then she saw a picture of Barry with Leonard Snart and an old-ish man, dressed as janitors.

_“Did Dr Snow just say Barry actually committed the crime? Besides from… vigilantism?”_ Oliver had long since caught the crime lord and was speeding back to base.

_“He was helping Captain Cold and Golden Glider,”_ Caitlin explained weekly. Oliver didn’t quite growl, but it was a close thing.

_“Okay, guys, if I could just cut in…”_ Laurel said calmly. _“Thea can handle the dealer, I’m getting changed and getting my ass to Central City. I’m not going to let Barry get put away. Felicity, please text me everything the police know and what really happened.”_

“Okay,” she collected herself, tightening her ponytail and cracking her knuckles, which, _ow._ “I am so bingeing on ice cream after this.”

_“I might have to join you for that,”_ Oliver said. She was happy to see that he was only about a minute away.

Diggle, who had remained quiet the whole time, focusing instead beating down on a gang of weapon’s smugglers, laughed facetiously. _“It had to be Barry, right? At least now he might be less keen on buddying up with his bad guys.”_

A burst of hysterical laughter escaped her mouth, which she quickly covered with her hands. She wondered if it was too soon to cry. She knew, logically, that Laurel was DA for a reason and that Barry’s relation to Joe and work as a CSI would help his case. She knew he would have had proper motivation to work with Leonard Snart, especially after the Ferris Air SNAFU. But no matter how optimistic she usually tried to be, she couldn’t see how Barry would get out of this with his Secret Identity intact.

*

Iris West was bored.

_Nothing_ exciting was happening; no Flash sightings, no subterfuge to expose, heck, no celebrity gossip, even. She still had half an hour until she could leave—she had had a dentist appointment this morning and had promised to make up the time as soon as possible. Ugh.

She considered calling Cisco: he always had something interesting to talk about, even if most of it went over her head. However, she decided that would be unprofessional and stuck to tidying up her desk area, which was unpleasant—how long had that half-drunk coffee been there? And, was that _mould?_

She jumped when her phone started buzzing, then grinned. At this point she didn’t even care if someone was going to try and sell her something.

“Hello,” she answered, not recognising the number.

_“Is this Iris West speaking?”_ An unfamiliar female voice answered.

“Uh huh,” Iris replied. “What can I do for you, Ms…?”

_“Detective Patty Spivot. I’m—”  Spivot_ started. Iris sat up straight on her seat and cut her off.

“Dad’s new partner. Is he okay? What happened?” Iris rushed.

_“Joe’s fine, Iris. It’s Barry…”_ Spivot stopped talking, sounded awkward. Iris just realised that she had been whispering. Interesting.

“What. Happened.” Iris demanded, and decided it was best to leave work now. Her boss could be as pissed as he wanted.

_“He’s been arrested. I only just found out, Captain Singh’s trying to keep it on the low-low, but not really succeeding. Joe’s, er, ‘discussing’ it with him right now, so I guessed you didn’t know,”_ Spivot explained.

Iris… had not expected that. At all.

“Thanks for calling me, Detective. I’m on my way,” Iris said, then hung up. She would have liked to get answers right then, but decided she’d rather get to the station quicker. Had they found out he was the Flash? If they had, what could Barry do to stop it getting out to the public? Were they all going to be in danger?

She drove on the wrong side of the speed limit, but she didn’t care about getting a ticket. When she finally got to the station, she could see that most of the officers were milling about, concerned and confused looks on their faces. Nobody paid much attention to her as she rushed to her dad’s desk.

Her dad was no-where in sight, but a young blonde woman was on the phone at the booth next to it.

“…Why would a Star City DA want to defend a CSI from Central? Of course, nothing’s stopping you… Yep, yeah, alright… I’ll tell ‘im, and hour and a half… Thank you, Ms Lance. Goodbye,” the woman, whose voice she recognised as Detective Spivot’s, hung up. Spivot then looked at Iris and smiled awkwardly.

“I need to talk to Captain Singh now, you and Joe can talk while I’m distracting him,” she stood up and lead Iris to Singh’s office. Iris decided that her dad’s new partner was alright in her books.

“Good,” Iris said stubbornly, “’cause I have questions, ones that need answers.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to those who have kudo'd and/or commented! Not much really happens with this chapter, but I thought that that would be a good place to end it. If anyone notices any mistakes, please point them out! I haven't got up to series 4 Arrow yet, so my information comes from the wikia page. Have a nice day! :)


	3. Lying for the hell of it

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Iris gets answers, Len gets kicks.

Joe wasn’t much of an optimist, but he always tried to find the good in bad situations—it was a skill he had perfected while raising a boy as sensitive as Barry and a girl as caring as Iris. It was also the skill that made him think: _at least Iris looks just as pissed as I do._

Detective Spivot nodded at him, before strategically placing herself him and Singh so she could interrupt their ongoing argument. Iris indicated with her head for him to follow her out of Singh’s office, and even though he had wanted to end this mess before it completely started, he was reluctantly beginning to accept that Singh’s hands were tied—he had shown Joe the evidence, and it all looked pretty self-explanatory. Singh as asked, no, pleased for Joe to give him a plausible explanation for it, but it wasn’t exactly like he could say _‘oh, it’s no big deal, it’s just my son secretly likes to wear skin-tight red leather and run around at the speed of sound to save the city, this was one of those times’._

“Is there a place we can talk?” Iris asked quietly, like the calm before a storm.

Joe ran his hand over his head. “Barry’s office is being examined. Follow me.”

He pulled her out in to a deserted hallway, ignoring all the looks his colleagues gave them. He pulled Iris into his arms, and felt her give a shaky breath, but when she pulled out her eyes were dry.

_“How_ can this happen?” She demanded.

Joe shook his head. “I have no idea. One minute I’m shifting through case reports, next I’m being asked if Barry ever mentioned meeting up with Snart. I _knew_ it was a bad idea!”

Iris sighed. “They saved the day, didn’t they?”

“True,” Joe said, “doesn’t mean it makes up for the fact it’s _Barry_ that needs saving now.”

“And us,” Iris added.

“Huh?”

“Well, the only reason Barry has a secret identity is so people like Weather Wizard can’t come after people he cares about.”

Joe eyed the wall opposite him; it looked rather very punch-able, and he was almost at the end of his nerve.

“Dad …” Iris grabbed his hand, “it’ll be fine. _Barry_ will be fine. This will all blow over before we know it.”

Joe would be happier to hear those words if it sounded like it was him Iris was trying to convince, not herself.

“Sure thing, honey. Now, let’s go see if we can talk to Barry.”

*

Caitlin had once said that there could be more mental side-affects to his super-speed than being able to think fast. Barry was inclined to agree with her. Before the lightning, he could spend hours working on one project, completely engrossing himself in it, barely eating or drinking. Nowadays, he found himself getting restless or bored after a few minutes of doing a task—especially if it was a mundane chore that had to be completed in front of people who didn’t know his secret identity. His brain would zoom in and out of high-speed processing and reacting, so it was a daily struggle to converse at the same pace as others. He likened it to a speedster version of ADHD, and in times like this—stuck in one place sitting down for what felt like _hours,_ it was a massive pain in his arse.

He almost cried with relief when the door opened. Despite the massive hole he had found himself, he couldn’t help but grin when he saw Iris and Joe. Noticing their serious—heck, you could even say ‘grave’, which, it wasn’t like he’d gotten cancer, but things did seem a bit bleak, but whatever—expressions, he laughed and said—“bet you thought Iris’d be the one to get arrested first, right? I mean, we all remember her rebel phase, right?”

Iris managed a small laugh and Joe even quirked his lips up a bit. “Bear, I’ve been trying to forget that since it started: don’t go traumatising me twice in one day.”

Iris hit Joe’s arm. “While we’re talking about bad life decisions, which, with hindsight, I can admit that wasn’t the brightest three months of my life, can we please mention that you met with Leonard _fucking_ Snart in public?”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if that actually was his middle name.  Maybe I can ask him when we become cell buddies in Iron Heights.”

Iris and Joe both glared daggers at him, which, wow, _scary_.

“Not. Funny.” They said in sync. He tried to hide his cringe.

“Have they found me a lawyer yet?” Barry changed the subject before either of them could bodily harm him.

“I don’t kn—“

“Yuh huh, a woman called Laurel Lance volunteered,” Iris said.

“Lance? Like, as in Captain Lance of Star City?” Joe questioned, but was mostly blocked out by Barry’s overdramatic groan and the _thunk_ of his forehead against the table, which actually hurt a lot.

“Oh no, no no, that means they _know._ Felicity is going to kill me for this, I know it. And Oliver is _so_ going to lecture me, no matter how hypocritical that would be.” Barry complained.

“He can wait in freaking line. You friends with this woman, Bear?” Joe inquired.

Was he? They knew each other’s secret identities, had teamed up once or twice, but it wasn’t anything like his relationship with Felicity, Oliver, and even Diggle. She had been professional and respectful, but that wasn’t enough to prompt a cross-country journey to save his arse, right …?

“She’s probably doing it because we’re friends of friends, and she’s a nice person, I guess. With her on my side, I’m probably not going to end up in prison of life,” Barry hoped, at least.

You never know for sure, with his luck.

*

After spending a high minority of his life in prison, the experience had lost its excitement.

Leonard Snart was reclined out on his bunk, glaring up at the ceiling and half-listening to his cell-mate complaining about the unfairness of life, or whatever. He hadn’t been here for even a week yet, and he was ready to break out, preferably punching some arsehole guards along the way. He used to feel enjoyment planning a break, knowing that he had something on everybody else stuck in jail with him. Now, however, with Central City and Captain Cold calling him, he couldn’t wait for Mick to break him out.

He had fallen into a doze when the cell’s door opened, despite the late hour. Standing there was a pot-bellied guard and a young, blonde detective.

“Mr Snart, if you would come with me, I have some questions for you,” the detective ordered.

Shrugging to himself, he rolled out of the bunk and landed softly on his feet. They probably wanted information on someone he had worked with before, probably Mick or Lisa.

“My please, Ma’am,” he said smoothly, and then followed her and the guard to a private meeting room.

“Mr Snart, I’m here on behalf of the CCPD. We have recently arrested this man,” she got a file out of her bag and opened it, placing the photo in front of him, “could you tell me if you have ever met him before?”

Len looked down at the photo—it looked like one from a driver’s license—and tried not to visibly do a double take. Staring up at him was the wide brown eyes of none other than Barry Allen, the ultimate goody-two-shoes. Why was she asking him about him? Was his identity compromised?

He decided the best thing to do was get more information out of her. He didn’t want to say anything incriminating about Allen—after all, if the Flash got arrested, who would he fight?

“What did he do? Stay out past curfew? Sneak some of daddy’s beer?” He smirked.

“I was hoping that is what you could tell me, Snart. Perhaps this will jog your memory …?” She showed him another picture, this time of when Allen had interrupted his meal at Saints & Sinners. He tried not to laugh—Allen must be stuck in so much shit right now.

“Well, Detective …?” He raised his eyebrows at her.

“Spivot.” She said curtly.

“Detective Spivot, I see I’m right—under-age drinking.” He shook his head mockingly. “Kids these days, am I right?”

“What did you talk about?” She didn’t seem impressed with his antics. Tough crowd.

“That’s the problem, Detective—I can’t seem to remember,” he smirked.

“Liar,” she accused.

“Maybe,” he agreed, “but why should I help you?”

She pursed her lips and glared at him. “You are currently serving about a dozen life-sentences, no parole. You help me; I’ll guarantee you’ll be viable for parole.”

“Ah, but you see, Detective,” Len placed a hand on his chest, “I’m not planning on sticking around anyway. Give it a month, tops. I guarantee it.”

She clenched her jaw. “Fine. You’re only hurting yourself. If you could take him back to his cell, please,” Spivot asked the guard.

Len waited until he got back into his bunk before he started laughing; only stopping when he felt his cell-mate kick the bed beneath him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long! Hopefully the pace will pick up with the next chapters--with both the plot and update time.


End file.
